Neptune

Orbital eccentricityAt the scale of this diagram, Neptune’s perihelion is around 25 feet closer to the Sun, and its aphelion is a corresponding distance farther out. That may seem like a large variance, but Neptune actually has the second-least eccentric orbit in our solar system. However, even this small deviation from a perfect circle, when multiplied by Neptune’s tremendous distance from the Sun, amounts to a significant variance. Therefore, light from the Sun takes between 4 hours, 8 minutes and 4 hours, 12 minutes to reach Neptune.

More interesting facts

Like Uranus, Neptune is classified as an ice giant. ​

Neptune is the outermost planet in our solar system. However, there are several dwarf planets and many other objects that orbit our Sun way beyond the distance of Neptune.

The only close-up images of Neptune and its moons were taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, during its 1989 flyby.